Soundwave 2010

In the baking hot Australian sun, thousands of fans made the long journey to Western Sydney’s Eastern Creek raceway to partake in the annual SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL. Although early withdrawals from heavyweights My Chemical Romance and The Devil Wears Prada, and a last minute exit from Australia’s own Closure In Moscow threatened to deter punters from attending, the festival remained a sell-out and throughout the day Soundwave’s reputation as the fastest growing festival in Australia only got stronger.

Kicking off the day’s festivities in the heaviest of fashions were Buffalo, USA metalcore giants IT DIES TODAY. While starting their set with "A Constant Reminder", the first track form their sophomore album "Sirens", it was evident that many of the crowd had come early to ensure they caught a glimpse of this hugely popular band, despite line up changes and issues with the release of their latest offering "Lividity". Vocalist "Jason Wood" took hold of the set with consistently brutal screams and involved the crowd by jumping over security to greet the lucky fans in the front row. With huge a huge circle pit amongst a cloud of swirling dust, the band continued the blistering set with songs spanning all three albums including "A Thredony For Modern Romance, Sacred Heart, and crowd favourite, Thankyou For Drinking".

IT DIES TODAY’s first tour in Australia being a success would be an understatement. Finally this band has the following and the steady ground to progress to become one of the world’s best heavy bands. With the search for water our main prerogative, we enjoyed what bands such as Alexisonfire, The Eagles Of Death Metal and Set Your Goals had to offer, while enduring the long, hot wait for Sweden’s progressive death metal titans MESHUGGAH. Incredibly, after hours in the sun, the excited crowd welcomed the band with a mosh pit that could only be described as scary. Most of the set consisted of tracks from the latest album "Obzen" including "Combustion, Bleed and Lethargica". Vocalist "Jens Kidman" was nothing short of extraordinary, owning the stage and intimidating the crowd with not only blood curdling growls but also with menacing and almost psychotic glares into the front row. The band closed the set with "Imprint Of The Unsaved" from the album "Catch ThirtyThree". MESHUGGAH’s set was utterly terrifying and completely unrelenting. During the wait for our next band, we enjoyed the post punk sounds of AFI and by the time TRIVIUM took the stage, it was close to sundown and the battered crowd continued down to stage four to watch one of the biggest and most talented metal bands in the world do their thing.

Despite an obvious change of pace over the band’s two latest offerings, TRIVIUM engaged in a crushingly heavy forty minutes involving songs from the first two albums including "Pillars Of Serpents" and "Ascendency" as well as crowd-pleaser "Into The Mouth Of Hell We March" and the brand new track from the "God Of War" soundtrack "Shattering The Skies Above". Face melting solos and violent roars from vocalist/guitarist Matt Heafy were particularly special and the crowd enjoyed the front man’s jokes and interactions. TRIVIUM closed out their set with the epic, brutal opus "Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr" and due to the quality and intensity of their live show my attitude towards this band has been reinstated.

After witnessing TRIVIUM perform, I can’t help but feel, that in recent times, I have been a little harsh on this fantastic four piece from Orlando, Florida. If you ever have the opportunity, go and see this band live. You will not be disappointed. By far the heaviest set of the day, and one that the death metal contingent had obviously been eagerly awaiting, was that of Knoxville’s mighty WHITECHAPEL who’s name is derived from the area in which infamous serial killer Jack The Ripper was active in London. Unfortunately the crowd was not as big due to a clash with hugely popular post-hardcore favourites ESCAPE THE FATE playing over on stage three in the same time slot. But this did not deter the band from one of the most crushing displays of death metal brutality your reviewer has ever been a part of. Luckily for myself, the mosh pit was avoided and I clung to the barrier in the front row for the best seat in the house.

Front man Phil Bozeman prowled on stage, immediately growling “Sydney, welcome to HELL!!” and WHITECHAPEL began shredding, playing songs from both albums but essentially tracks from their latest, "This Is Exile". Tearing through "Possession, Father Of Lies and Exalt" and including older favourites "Somatic Defilement and Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation" WHITECHAPEL built the crowd up and by the final bone-crushing song the crowd had created one of the most frighteningly brutal circle pits assumedly ever. The band closed with a song from the highly anticipated new album penned for an April, 2010 release and the reception from the bloodstained, sunburnt crowd was pleasing to say the least. A sign that there are great things to come from this band.

The best, as they say, was saved till last on this hot, dusty Sydney day. From the moment the sound check started it was evident that the crowd this band is capable of drawing is nothing short of massive. Even if one of the world’s biggest acts was playing on a stage only a kilometre away (I refer to Faith No More), the welcoming reception that was received by Florida’s favourite post-hardcore sons A DAY TO REMEMBER was inspiring. Vocalist Jeremy McKinnon wooed the patriotic Aussies by walking onstage sporting an Australian flag and immediately the band tore into "The Downfall Of us All", the first track from the newest album "Homesick". If there is one thing that this band is good at, it is getting a three thousand strong crowd singing along in unison and creating a heavy mosh with a happy, punk vibe.

Ripping through classics such as "The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle, The Danger In Starting a Fire, Show ‘em The Ropes, A Shot In The Dark" and a hardcore version of "The Fray’s Over my Head", A DAY TO REMEMBER rolled through breakdown after breakdown before indulging in a line up of tracks from their new album. "Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End", claimed by the band to be the heaviest song they have ever written, was followed by "My Life For Hire, Have Faith In Me and Fast forward" to 2012 before closing out the crushing set with "I’m Made of Wax Larry What are You Made Of?" A DAY TO REMEMBER have cemented themselves as favourites amongst the Australian hardcore faithful and were a fitting end to the line up of amazing bands that made Soundwave 2010 what it was. Although this festival’s organization has much to learn, it has to be said with the quality bands that are enlisted to play each year it is unlikely that attendances will dwindle and as the sun sets on each passing year and people come and go, bands and fans alike, will bask in the hard rock resplendence that is Soundwave.